ROBI — the diaspora’s collection of poetry, prose and short stories
the Bangladeshi Identity Project is excited to bring you the second volume of ROBI, this time in print. The following is a primer on all things ROBI, including an FAQ and how-to.
What is ROBI?
We have spoken on the motivation and intention behind ROBI previously; find our heartfelt explanation here.
ROBI is a collection of poetry, prose, short stories and personal essays for and by the children of the Bangladeshi diaspora. We wanted, and continue to want, to give our community a platform to tell their stories, seeking voices that find the courage to come out of the woodwork and show us their talent.
We published the first volume of ROBI in June of last year. It was more than anything we could have expected: from the submissions to the response it received. It motivated us to turn ROBI into a long-term project, and to deliver it in print. So, here we are announcing our newest call for submissions.
Thank you for showing us your light.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What type of submissions are you looking for? We are looking for poetry, prose, short-stories and personal essays.
- What if I am not sure if my submission fits your criteria? Submit it anyway and we’ll review it!
- What topics or content are you looking for? It’s very open-ended: Anything that you feel represents or impacted your identity.
- Is there a word limit? No word limits, let your creativity flow as it needs to.
- Can anyone submit? We’re looking for submissions from people of Bangladeshi descent, living outside of Bangladesh, in the diaspora.
- Can we submit more than once? Absolutely! But please try to include submissions within one Google document link.
- If I submit more than once, do I have to complete the submission form for each? Send all your submissions on ONE document. Title and number each submission within the document to separate.
- Will you edit my submission? If we catch grammatical or formatting issues, we will track those changes and send it back to you to confirm no intention has been changed.
- Are you accepting photography submissions? Unfortunately, not this year.
- Will all submissions be accepted? No, we will review each submission individually. We will notify you of acceptance or rejection.
- Will I get paid? Our team is working on ways to find funding to be able to pay our writers for future accepted submissions, but as of now, no.
- What’s the deadline? Please submit by April 07 2019.
- When are you publishing? We hope to publish by mid-May 2019.
How to Submit to ROBI Vol. 2
Step 1: Open the Google Submission Form here! Be sure to submit by April 07 2019.
Step 2: Fill out your name, age, city etc. on the form — so we know how far (or not) our writers are coming from! Make sure to fill in social media handles and all astericked slots. You have the option to be anonymous.
Step 3: Make sure your submission is a google document and gives us editing permission! Link it to us on the Form.
Step 4: Submit! Send any questions to us at bangladeshiidenity@gmail.com
Step 5: Wait to hear back from us regarding acceptance of your submission. We may send you edits back for your review as well.
